Detained Army Colonel sues FG, demands ₦500m damages.

A Nigerian Army officer, Mohammed Alhassan Ma’aji, has filed a suit against the Federal Government at the Federal High Court in Abuja, challenging his continued detention since September 2025.

CBI News reports that the case, brought under the Fundamental Rights Enforcement Procedure Rules 2009, seeks his immediate release and ₦500 million in damages for alleged violation of his fundamental rights.

The suit lists the Attorney-General of the Federation, the Chief of Army Staff, the Nigerian Army, and the Chief of Defence Intelligence as defendants.

The officer is questioning why he has remained in custody for months without being arraigned before a court.

Through his lawyer, Olalekan Ojo (SAN), Ma’aji argued that his prolonged detention violates his constitutional rights to personal liberty and dignity.

He maintained that being held for over six months without trial contravenes provisions of the 1999 Constitution and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.

Court documents indicate that Ma’aji was arrested around September 30, 2025, alongside others over allegations of a plot to remove the government.

Since then, he has been held in a military facility in Abuja.

The officer further claimed that he has been denied access to his family and legal representatives, and has not received adequate medical attention while in custody.

An affidavit filed by a litigation officer in his lawyer’s office stated that no formal charges have been filed against him since his arrest.

Among the reliefs sought, Ma’aji is asking the court to declare his detention unlawful and order his immediate release.

Alternatively, he urged the court to direct authorities to arraign him within seven days.

He is also demanding ₦500 million as compensation for the alleged unlawful detention.

No date has been fixed for the hearing of the suit.